Saltwater Crocodiles: Characteristics, Behavior, Feeding and Reproduction | Sea Life, Islands and Oceania

SALTWATER CROCODILES

saltwater crocodile

Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are the world’s largest reptiles and predators that lives on land. They are larger than all mammalian land predators, including tigers, lions and bears and are arguably the most dangerous of all 28 species of crocodilian species. They can exceed six meters in length and can live up to 100 years. According to Mike Osborn, a real-life Crocodile Dundee and outback guide, they "can weigh as much as a four-wheel drive truck... Once they get past fourteen feet they suddenly broaden out, double in size...You wouldn't believe how massive they are. Once they've got you in their death roll. You're finished." [Source: David Doubilet, National Geographic, June 1996]

A large saltwater crocodile says National Geographic writer Rick Gore, "is cunning enough to stalk a human, strong enough to bring down and dismember a water buffalo, yet gentle enough to crack open its own eggs to release its young. Saltwater crocodiles have been seen on the east coast of India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Fiji Islands, the Philippines, and the island nation of Palau (600 miles east of the Philippines).

Saltwater crocodiles are also known as the esturine crocodile or Indo-Pacific saltwater crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles live for more than 70 years, according to the nonprofit conservation organization Oceana. Cassius described below is estimated to have lived to be over 120 years. It's difficult to determine a crocodile's age. Sometimes is estimated based on size. The rings on the femur bone can be counted similarly to rings on a tree but that can generally only be done after a crocodile dies. Saltwater crocodiles.have been a protected species in the Northern Territory of Australia since 1971. Between that time and 2005, their numbers grew from 3,000 to 70,000.

Many saltwater crocodiles were slaughtered due to the leather trade and probably still are. The hide of saltwater crocodiles is considered very valuable. Many people pay large amounts of money for crocodilian products, and saltwater crocodile leather products some say are the most prized of all. Farms are operated to produce crocodile for leather. Often only small amounts of hide are taken from certain parts of the body while rest of the crocodile is thrown out or fed to other crocodiles. [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The main devise used for capturing adult saltwater crocodiles is a huge pole with large hooks, meant for shark capture, that restrict the crocodile's jaws, but these can cause damage to their snouts; and often it doesn’t work with crocodiles over four meters (13 feet 1 inches) or it doesn't work period. [Source: Wikipedia]

Saltwater Crocodile Habitat and Where They Are Found

Saltwater crocodiles are native to Asia, Australia and the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. They are most commonly found on the coasts of northern Australia, and the islands of New Guinea and Indonesia. They range as far west as the coasts Sri Lanka and eastern India, through the shorelines, estuaries and rivermouths of southeast Asia to central Vietnam, around Borneo and into the Pacific Ocean as far east as the Philippines, Palau, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

range of saltwater crocodiles

Saltwater crocodiles have a high tolerance for salinity and are strong swimmers. Even though "salties" have been spotted a 250 kilometers (150 miles) offshore in the open ocean, they prefer estuaries — which is why they are called esturine crocodiles — and coastal waters and river mouths but are seen in freshwater rivers, billabongs and swamps too.

In Australia, they swim up rivers when water is warm and often go so far inland that the water becomes completely fresh. During floods, salties sometimes swim many miles inland. According to Animal Diversity Web: The movement between habitats occurs during the wet season, when juveniles are raised in freshwater rivers. However, these juveniles are usually forced out of these areas, by dominant males who use the freshwater areas for breeding grounds, and into areas of low salinity. Males who are unable to establish a territory in the river system are either killed or forced out into the sea where they move around the coast in search of another river system. /=\

Saltwater Crocodile Characteristics

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest living reptilian species in the world. They range in weight from 1000 to 1200 kilograms (2203 to 2643 pounds). They are (ectothermic (“cold blooded”, use heat from the environment and adapt their behavior to regulate body temperature) and heterothermic (having a body temperature that fluctuates with the surrounding environment). Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are much larger than females. Adult males can reach up to six to seven meters in length. Females generally do not exceed three meters, and 2.5 meters is considered large. [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Saltwater crocodiles have a broad snout pitted with deep pours and two keels on its tail. Their head is very large and a pair of ridges run from the eyes along the center of the snout. Saltwater crocodiles have a heavy set jaw which contains up to 68, and no less than 64, teeth. Saltwater crocodiles are grey, brown or black in color with irregular molting and large plate-like scales. The scales are oval in shape and the scutes are small compared to other species. Young saltwater crocodiles are pale yellow in color with black stripes and spots on the body and tail. This coloration lasts for several years until the crocodile matures into an adult. The color as an adult is much darker, with lighter tan or gray areas. The ventral surface is white or yellow in color. Stripes are present on the lower sides of the body but do not extend onto the belly. The tail is gray with dark bands.

Saltwater crocodiles have the strongest bite of any living animal. A 4.59 meter-long (15 feet 1 in) 531 kilogram (1,171 pound) saltwater crocodile has been confirmed as having the highest bite force quotient ever recorded for an animal in a laboratory setting, with a value of 16,414 N (3,690 lbf) surpassing the previous record of 13,172 N or 2,961 lbf made by an American alligator. The extraordinary bite of crocodilians is a result of their anatomy. The space for the jaw muscle in the skull is very large, which is easily visible from the outside as a bulge at each side of the head. The muscles are extremely stiff, almost as hard as bone to the touch, and can tighten with extreme power, and arranged for clamping down. Despite the strong muscles to close the jaw, crocodiles have extremely small and weak muscles to open the jaw, which is why the animal's can be securely shut with several strips of duct tape.

Saltwater Crocodiles Diet and Hunting

Saltwater crocodiles feed on many different types of prey. They vary their food choices depending on what is available and they are not voracious eaters they are made out to be and are able to survive on relatively little food for a prolonged period. Because of their size and distribution, saltwater crocodiles hunt the broadest range of prey species of any modern crocodilian. [Source: Wikipedia, Animal Diversity Web]

Juveniles are limited mainly to smaller prey such as amphibians, crustaceans, insects, and small fish and reptiles. As they grow up become larger, they feed on larger prey such as mud crabs, turtles, snakes and birds that include Ground-living birds, such as the emu and different kinds of water birds, especially the magpie goose. Full-grown adults take , buffalo, wild boar, and monkeys. Among the prey species that have been recorded are crab-eating macaques, proboscis monkeys, gibbons, agile wallabies, golden jackals, flying foxes, hares, badgers, otters, chevrotains and pangolins. In Sri Lanka, 2.6 meter long saltwater crocodile was observed preying on an Indian porcupine.

Large animals taken by adult saltwater crocodiles include sambar deer, wild boar, Malayan tapirs, kangaroos, feral pigs, humans, orangutans, dingos, tigers, and large bovines, such as banteng, water buffalo, and gaur. Unlike fish, crabs and aquatic creatures, mammals and birds are usually found only sporadically in or next to water; so crocodiles seem to search for places where such prey may be concentrated, such as the water under a tree holding a flying fox colony, or spots where herds of water buffaloes come to drink. Most witnessed acts of predation on marine animals have occurred in coastal waters or within sight of land, with female sea turtles and their babies caught during mating season when the turtles are closer to shore, and bull sharks being the only largish shark with a strong propensity to patrol brackish and fresh waters

Saltwater crocodiles on the hunt usually hides in the water with only the nostrils, eyes, and part of the back exposed. When prey approaches, they lunge out of the water and attacks, usually killing the prey with a single snap of the jaws or by pulling it underwater and drowning it. After the prey is dead saltwater crocodiles drag the prey under the water where it is more easily consumed. Young saltwater crocodiles are capable of breaching their entire body into the air in a single upward motion while hunting prey that may be perched on low hanging branches. While hunting rhesus macaques, they have observed knocking monkeys into the water with their tails, where the macaque is easily killed. Larger animals are dragged into deep water and drowned or crushed. Large prey is then torn into manageable pieces by "death rolling", the spinning of the crocodile to twist off hunks of meat or by sudden jerks of the head. Occasionally, food items are stored for later consumption once a crocodile eats its fill, but these are often scavenged by interlopers such as monitor lizards.

Saltwater Crocodiles Travel Long Distances in the Ocean by Riding Currents

Movement patterns of the translocated estuarine crocodile that circumnavigated Cape York Peninsula; A) the Map shows location fixes of Crocodile C captured in the Wenlock River on the west coast and flown across Cape York Peninsula and released into the ocean on east coast; B) Daily distances covered (m) by Crocodile C after release.

In a study published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, scientists said they had figured out ho saltwater crocodile came to occupy so many islands in the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean separated by huge stretches of ocean despite being relatively poor swimmers — crocodiles rode ocean currents to cross large areas of open sea. According to the University of Queensland: Many anecdotal accounts exist of large crocodiles being sighted far out to sea, but this is the first study to show — using underwater acoustic tags and satellite tracking — that estuarine crocodiles ride surface currents during long-distance travel, which would enable them to voyage from one oceanic island and another. The results explain why, despite occupying such a large range, species diversification of the estuarine crocodile has not occurred.[Source:, June 4, 2010

Working in the remote Kennedy River in North Queensland, Australia, Dr Hamish Campbell from University of Queensland and colleagues from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Australia Zoo tagged 27 adult estuarine crocodiles with sonar transmitters and used underwater receivers to track their every move over 12 months. During that time they recorded 1.2 million data packets and found that both male and female adult crocodiles undertook long-distance journeys, regularly traveling more than 50km from their home area to the river mouth and beyond into open sea.

The data showed that crocodiles always began long-distance travel within an hour of the tide changing, allowing them to go with the flow, and that they halted their journeys by hauling out on to the river bank when the tide turned against them. The team — which included the late Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter") — also re-analyzed archival data from the few crocodiles that have been satellite tracked whilst undertaking ocean travel. By overlaying the crocodiles' movements with surface current estimates they found that ocean swimming crocodiles showed a similar behavioral strategy when at sea.

One satellite-tagged crocodile — a 3.84-meter-long male — left the Kennedy River and traveled 590 km over 25 days down the west coast of Cape York Peninsula timing its journey to coincide with a seasonal current system that develops in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A second crocodile — a 4.84-meter-long male — traveled more than 411 km in only 20 days from the east coast of Cape York Peninsula through the Torres Straits to the Wenlock River on the west coast of Cape York. The Torres Straits are notorious for strong water currents, and when the crocodile arrived the currents were moving opposite to its direction of travel. It waited in a sheltered bay for four days and only passed through the Straits when the currents switched to favor its journey.

According to Dr Campbell: "The estuarine crocodile occurs as island populations throughout the Indian and Pacific ocean, and because they are the only species of salt-water living crocodile to exist across this vast area, regular mixing between the island populations probably occurs. Because these crocodiles are poor swimmers, it is unlikely that they swim across vast tracts of ocean. But they can survive for long periods in salt-water without eating or drinking, so by only traveling when surface currents are favorable, they would be able to move long distances by sea. This not only helps to explains how estuarine crocodiles move between oceanic islands, but also contributes to the theory that crocodilians have crossed major marine barriers during their evolutionary past."

Saltwater Crocodile Behavior

Saltwater crocodiles are thought of as one of the most intelligent and sophisticated of all reptiles. While crocodilian brains are much smaller than those of mammals (as low as 0.05 percent of body weight in the saltwater crocodile), saltwater crocodiles are capable of learning difficult tasks with very little conditioning, such learning to track the migratory route of their prey as the seasons change.

Saltwater crocodiles may possess more sophisticated communication abilities than they are given credit for. Their barks are one way they communicate with each another. Saltwater crocodiles are thought to have four different calls. One is the distress call, which is normally only performed by juveniles. This call is higher pitched than most other calls and consists of short barks. They are also thought to have threat calls in which C. porosus makes a hissing or coughing sound at its intruder. There is also the hatching call. This call is only performed by newborns and is only one, short bark, high in tone. There is also the courtship bellow, which is a long, low growl. They are motile [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Saltwater crocodiles have strong enough legs so that they can lift their body off the ground and walk. As tourists in Australia have seen they are able to leap far out of the water to snag a chicken suspended on a pole. When saltwater crocodiles bask in the sun they often do so with their mouth open. Doing this keeps them from overheating and allows small birds to extract parasites and bits of food stuck between their teeth,

Saltwater crocodiles spend most of their time thermogulating to maintain their body temperature. If they become too hot they often go into the water with only their eyes and nostrils showing and stay submerged until they are cooled. If they become too cold, they lay in the sun on flat rocks until they warm up.

Saltwater Crocodile Mating, Reproduction and Offspring

Saltwater crocodiles are oviparous, meaning that young are hatched from eggs. Females normally lay 40 to 60 eggs, but can lay up to 90 eggs. The eggs are placed in mounded nests made from plant matter and mud and then buried. Females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at 10 to 12 years. Males do so at around 16 years. [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Saltwater crocodiles mate in the water during the wet season, which falls between November and March in Australia. Females begin nesting after the first heavy rains and lay about 50 eggs in mound nests on the river bank. They guard their clutch and stay with their hatchlings for the first few weeks. "That's the most dangerous time," one crocodile farm owner told National Geographic.

Despite the fact that saltwater crocodiles are normally found in saltwater areas, breeding grounds are established in fresh water. Males mark out their territory and become defensive if another male tries to enter. Since the eggs are laid during the wet season, the nests must be elevated to prevent loss due to floods. /=\

According to Animal Diversity Web: The male does not stay until the eggs are hatched, but the female stays and protects the nest from predators and humans. After incubation for 90 days, the offspring are hatched, although this time varies with nest temperature. Sex determination is directly related to nest temperature. Males are produced around 31.6 degrees Celsius. If this temperature is increased or decreased just a little, females will be produced. The female unearths the eggs when she hears the chirping sounds the offspring make after they hatch. She then assists the offspring into the water by carrying them in her mouth and tends to them until they learn how to swim. /=\

Large Saltwater Crocodiles

A large male saltwater crocodile is around 4.5 meters (15 feet) in length and tip the scales at 1000 pounds. They can get as wide a man with his arms fully extended, stand as high as a table and leave behind footprints as large as diving fins. A massive "salty" crocodile was captured in Australia in 2018. It measured 4.7 meters (15.4 feet) in length.

Once crocodiles reach adulthood, the rate at they grow slows down. “As crocodiles get larger than 5 meter (16.4 feet), growth rates seem to slow to as little as 1 cm [0.4 inch a year] and in many instances the crocodile may stop growing," Toody Scott at Marineland Crocodile Park in Australia told Live Science. The largest crocodiles are usually the ones that grow in irregular spurts as juveniles. [Source: Sascha Pare, Live Science, published August 15, 2023; June 8, 2023]

Fisherman off of Queensland once reportedly hauled in a 33-foot-long saltwater crocodile. A 28-foot specimen weighing 4,400 pounds was purportedly found in the Norman River Australia in 1957. Published press reports have also cited a 6.2m adult male killed on the Fly River in Papua New Guinea in 1982 that was measured after it was skinned.

Lolong, the World’s Biggest Crocodile

In July 2012, a huge crocodile known as Lolong was officially named the largest crocodile in captivity, by the Guinness World Records. Lolong measures 6.17 meters (20.24 feet) and weighed more than a ton and was estimated to be arround 50 years old. The Guinness website said: “Lolong’s weight was measured at a nearby truck weigh-bridge and verified as approximately 1,075 kilograms (2,370 pounds). The reptile took the top spot from an Australian crocodile that measured more than 17 feet (5 meters) and weighed nearly a ton. The Guinness listing is based on data by experts including crocodile zoologist Adam Britton, who measured the beast in his home, the new Bunawan Eco-Park and Research Centre in the Philippines.

Associated Press reported: “The news sparked celebrations in Bunawan, a farming town of 37,000 in Agusan del Sur province on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, but Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said it also fostered concerns that more giant crocodiles might lurk in a marshland and creek where villagers fish."There were mixed feelings," Elorde said. "We're really proud because it proves the rich biodiversity of our place but at the same time, there are fears that Lolong may not be alone." Lolong has become the star attraction of a new ecotourism park and research center in the outskirts of Bunawan and has drawn thousands of tourists since news of its capture spread. Elorde said his town has earned 3 million pesos ($72,000) from the modest entrance fees at the park, with most of the money being used to feed and care for the crocodile and maintain the park. [Source: Jim Gomez, Associated Press July 1, 2012]

National Geographic News reported: “Initially wary of claims of record-breaking size, Britton blogged his congratulations to Lolong "for amazing the skeptic in me." "I didn't expect to ever see a crocodile greater than 20 feet long in my lifetime, not an experience I will forget easily," wrote Britton, senior partner of the Australia-based crocodilian research and consulting group Big Gecko. The previous captive record-holder was a 17.97-foot-long (5.48-meter-long) Australian-caught saltwater crocodile.[Source: National Geographic News, July 2, 2012]

Britton noted, the (1,075-kilogram) Lolong may have a sizable impact on crocodile conservation in the Philippines. For instance, the Philippine Senate recently introduced a resolution to strengthen laws protecting the saltwater crocodile and the Philippine crocodile, a species deemed critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. As Britton wrote on his blog, "this is excellent progress." Lolong died on February 10, 2013 in his compound at the Bunawan Eco-Park and Research Centre in the Philippines. A necropsy revealed that Lolong died from pneumonia and cardiac arrest. A fungal infection and stress aggravated his condition.

Catching and Caring for Lolong

Associated Press reported: Lolong was captured with steel cable traps in the Agusan marsh in Mindanao during a three-week hunt after a two-year girl was killed in 2009 and a fisherman went missing. Water buffalos have also been attacked by crocodiles in the area. About 100 people led by Elorde pulled the crocodile from a creek using a rope and then hoisted it by crane onto a truck. It was named after a government environmental officer who died from a heart attack after traveling to Bunawan to help capture the beast, Elorde said. Elorde said he saw a bigger crocodile escape when Lolong was captured and villagers remain wary of fishing there at night. He said he has formed a team of hunters and is seeking government permission to hunt that crocodile. [Source: Jim Gomez, AP, July 1, 2012]

In September 2011 after Lolong was caught AFP reported: Lolong may have eaten a farmer who went missing in July, along with several water buffaloes in the southern town of Bunawan, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller said. A crocodile also bit off the head of a 12-year-old girl in Bunawan in 2009, according to the environment ministry. Sumiller said he thought the male crocodile was more than 50 years old."This is the biggest animal that I've handled in 20 years of trapping," he said. "The community was relieved," Sumiller said, but added: "We're not really sure if this is the man-eater, because there have been other sightings of other crocodiles in the area."

The team, employed by a government-run crocodile breeding farm, began laying bait using chicken, pork and dog meat on August 15. But the reptile, which measured 91cm across its back, simply bit off both the meat and the line it was skewered on. An eight millimetre metal cable finally proved beyond the power of its jaws, and the beast was subdued in a relatively fast 15 minutes at a creek late on Saturday with the help of about 30 local men. After it was placed in captivity AFP reported: “A first, Lolong was fed the equivalent of 10 percent of his body weight in beef, pork and poultry every month, but an expert put him on a diet of eight to 10 kilograms a week to get him to be more active.”

While not considered an endangered species globally, saltwater crocodiles are "critically endangered" in the Philippines, where it is hunted for its hide which is used in the fashion industry, de Leon said. "There have been very few sightings of porosus in the wild in the Philippines in recent years," she added. In July, a smaller saltwater crocodile, measuring almost 4.2m was caught on the western Philippine island of Palawan after it killed a man.

Cassius, the World’s Largest Crocodile in Captivity for Many Years

The largest crocodile in captivity for many years was Cassius, who was kept at Marineland Melanesia on Green Island in Australia. He was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Record for being the world's largest living crocodile in captivity in 2011, when he measured to be nearly 5.5 meters (18 feet) long. He is thought to have weighed around a ton. But no one measured him after that. He died in November 2024 and was thought to be 120 years old — or at least 110 — when he died. [Source:Sascha Pare, Live Science , June 8, 2023; August 15, 2023

Sascha Pare wrote in Live Science: Cassius might be missing a few inches as a result of injuries he sustained in the wild. When researchers captured him in 1984, the gigantic croc had been fighting other crocodiles over territory and attacking boat engines, resulting in him losing bits of his snout and tail. These missing body parts were not factored into his 2011 measurements and could have added an extra 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) to his length, according to Guinness World Records.

Based on the size of crocodiles that have lived in the Marineland park since birth, Cassius' keepers estimate the colossal croc was born in 1903. "There is no way of knowing Cassius' actual age as he was born in the wild and the age is just an estimate," Toody Scott, a crocodile keeper who looks after Cassius at Marineland Crocodile Park on Green Island, told Live Science. The saltwater giant's birthday "was essentially made up a few years ago" and this time of year is actually "the wrong time of year for a crocodile to be born in northern Australia," Scott added.

In 1984, researchers captured the crocodile on a cattle ranch southwest of Darwin, Australia, after the ranch owners complained they were losing livestock. Even then, when Cassius was estimated to be between 30 and 80 years old, he was the biggest crocodile ever caught alive in Australia. "He was 16 feet, 10 inches [5.13 m] with at least another 6 inches [15 centimeters] of tail missing and a bit of a snout missing," Grahame Webb, a crocodile researcher who participated in the capture, told ABC News. "He was a big old gnarly crocodile then. Crocs of that size are not normal." Nearly 40 years later, and after 35 years living on Green Island, the colossal crocodile is still growing, "which is unusual for a big croc" and is providing scientists with "serious knowledge on longevity," Webb said.

Cassius was a difficult catch for Webb and his colleagues back in the 1980s. Large crocodiles had been prime targets for hunters, so researchers rarely had the opportunity to study them. "Adult crocodiles that survived the hunting period were very wary," Webb said. (Australia's Northern Territory banned crocodile hunting in 1971.) On life after his capture, George J Craig, Cassius' owner, told National Geographic, "They don't change much in captivity. I've put a female in with him and that keeps him happy. If there was another male in there, he'd kill it."

Emily Wind wrote in The Guardian: Scott said Cassius was always “very different” from the other crocodiles at Green Island, having raised a hatchling crocodile for 14 years – “which is just unheard of for crocs”. Usually, crocodile eggs are removed from the nest inside enclosures so the male crocs do not eat them. But in the 1990s, Craig accidentally left one behind. “It hatched out, and then we found a little crocodile sitting on [Cassius’] head in the morning,” Scott said. Craig threw little bits of mince to the hatchling – named Xena after the Warrior Princess – but decided to leave her with Cassius, who raised her for 14 years. Scott explained how Cassius would save bits of food in his mouth as he was feeding, taking it over and giving it to Xena. “That hasn’t been documented before, [this] kind of behaviour,” he said. [Source: Emily Wind, The Guardian, November 6, 2024]

Saltwater Crocodile Attacks on Humans

Saltwater crocodiles can be a very dangerous and humans are attacked and killed by them every year. If you see a saltwater crocodile the Australian Tourist authority recommends you observe it from a distance, don't feed it and never stand between it and the water. If approached by a hostile crocodile Aussies recommend that you pull out a gun and shot it in the nose. Bullets apparently won't pierce the animals thick hide. If you don't have a gun you are supposed to shout at it. A pamphlet given out by the Queensland park service warns tourists to "avoid murky water...Don't trail arms and legs from boats...And be careful during breeding season, October through April." Crocodiles have been known to charge boats. Ones floating high in water with their backs arched are very likely to be aggressive.∝

Australians say that crocodiles usually don't attack a group of five or six people swimming. They usually go after children or women doing their landry. Swimming in rough water is regarded by some as safe. Crocs, and sharks too, are supposed to shy away from white caps. "You will never see the croc that eats you," a man from Cookstown told writer Paul Theroux. "You'll never know what hit you. You see nothing...They have this incredible capacity for sudden movement.∝

"You don't want to be tucker for a croc mate," Osborn told journalist Harvey Arden, " They'll stick you under a submerged log and let you rot. That's because they can't chew too well. When you've ripened enough, they'll tear a chunk off. Strange how some people think we are top of the food chain. More bloody nonsense. Crocs are."☼

Rob Bredle, owner of Airlie Beach Wildlife Park in Queensland, makes a splash with a stick to let a 13-foot, 700-pound male know its meal time and then feeds the best by hand. George J Craig, the owner of another crocodile park told National Geographic, "His eyes will let you know what's going on," Craig said. "After I drop his food, they'll still follow me. Even after all these years, if I made a mistake, I've had it."

Saltwater Crocodiles No Long Endangered in Australia But Still Are Elsewhere

Some scientists estimate there were once millions of salties.. Before large scale hunting began in the 1940s, it was estimated there were more than 150,000 crocodiles in the waters for Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. By the mid-1960s, they had been nearly hunted to extinction. In the 1970s it was estimated there were perhaps only 5,000 left. Bredle told National Geographic, "In the 1970s I went up 13 rivers in Queensland and saw only 64 crocodiles.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland passed legislation banning the hunting of crocodiles. Salties have made a spectacular come back, with their population increasing from about 7,500 animals in the early 1970s o 100,000 in the med-1990s. Their comeback has been especially remarkable in the Northern Territory, where there are now about 65,000 crocodile — so many of them that the represent a threat to livestock and humans. Most of the victims are horses and cattle that wander too close to crocodile-infested water. Their status has been upgraded from rare to common. Problem crocodiles are removed from populated areas and usually given to crocodile farms. Between 100 and 200 crocodiles are removed annually from Darwin harbor alone.

On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List saltwater crocodiles as a whole are listed as “Lower Risk — Least Concern”. On the US Federal List they are categorised as “Threatened” in Australia, not rated in Papua New Guinea, and "Endangered" in other countries. Saltwater crocodiles from Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea are included in Appendix II of the CITES treaty, which limits international trade. Members of the species from all other countries are listed in Appendix I, which means they may not be traded internationally. [Source: Erin Wayman, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

According to Animal Diversity Web: Although the population of saltwater crocodiles are not stable everywhere, it is in no immediate danger. However, in some countries where the crocodile once thrived, it is now rare or extirpated. Habitat loss associated with coastal development and intensive hunting for hides has drastically reduced populations throughout much of the range. In Sri Lanka and Thailand, habitat destruction is so rapid that the saltwater crocodile has been virtually unseen, with only two saltwater crocodiles being sighted in 1999. In southern Vietnam, where the species once thrived by the thousands, there are but an estimated 100 crocodiles alive in the wild. This is due to the rapid degradation of habitat and the poaching of the animal for leather products. The global population will not be stable until all the countries which have habitats that support the saltwater crocodile have laws that prevent poaching, and programs that create reserves. /=\

A number of such programs have been begun to help saltwater crocodiles. In India, a restocking program was introduced in Bhitarkinaka National Park. More than 1,400 saltwater crocodiles were released, with approximately 580 surviving. The population has now become moderately stable at around 1,000 total crocodiles in India. In Burma, crocodile farms are controlling the breeding and conservation of crocodiles. The Australian management program is the world's leader in conservation of the saltwater crocodile. This program focuses its attention on educating the public on precautions to take if they encounter a crocodile, thus discourage unnecessary killing. Crocodile farms were opened to maintain a breeding population, and national sanctuaries have been established, ensuring an undisturbed habitat. Yearly population counts are conducted, monitoring the number of saltwater crocodiles in Australia, making sure that the population does not become dangerously low. In New Papua Guinea, programs that ensure an undisturbed habitat stabilize the population. The Papua New Guinean management system involves a combination of wild cropping, egg and hatchling harvest, and ranching. /=\

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, CNN, BBC, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated February 2025